For The Bible Tells Me So

Product Description

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Seattle Interntional Film Festival, Dan Karslake's provocative, entertaining documentary brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible. As the film notes, most Christians live their lives today without feeling obliged to kil anyone who works on the Sabbath or eats shrimp.
Through the experience of five very normal, very Christian , very American families - including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson - we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. With commentary by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For The Bible Tells Me So offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.

Product Details

• Released on: 2008-02-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 99 minutes

For the Bible Tells Me So is a compassionate and insightful documentary about the contemporary face of an old conflict between Christian fundamentalists and gay and lesbian people. The film looks deep into the hearts of several families--a few of them quite famous--that have struggled with making sense of having a homosexual son or daughter in the fold. At the same time, For the Bible Tells Me So is a deconstruction of thin arguments that the Bible actually condemns homosexuality in a few passages and through the story of Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction. A number of clerics and scholars explain the cultural and historical context for Old Testament quotes routinely referenced as arguments against homosexuality, and point out translation confusion about the real meaning of the Sodom story. Unquestionably, the most compelling part of the film is its focus on various families, including that of former U.S. presidential candidate Dick Gephardt, who has a lesbian daughter for whose safety he worries. Also among the interviewees is Gene Robinson, a gay man who became bishop of New Hampshire’s Episcopal church in 2004, and his parents, as well as a gay teen whose folks joined him on the front line in protest of their church’s negative stance on gays. Not every story is affirmative: there are tragedies within these tales, too, as well as an indictment of so-called cures that supposedly banish the gay drive from homosexual men and women. --Tom Keogh

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Customer Reviews

Compelling Documentary that I Wish More People Would See
For the Bible Tells Me So is a documentary that provides an overview of the debate regarding homosexuality and how it is not approved within the pages of the bible. Sure, religion has been used as an excuse to segregate, murder, and enslave whole groups of people for centuries but at least up until the last one hundred years or so; those Christian knew their bible verses quite well. They honored their rigid canon and seemed to know their own propaganda a bit more than today's multitude of illiterate bible thumpers and religious politicians. I always wondered why the nice Christians out there weren't a little bit more upset over this.

Anyway, For the Bible Tells Me So makes a very keen observation; politicizing the bible for anti-gay purposes can be equated to politicizing the bible for those of us who are troubled by other abominations. The film sites other abominations in Leviticus that can probably be equated to homosexuality and some of them are ridiculous. Unfortunately most of the sheep in this culture probably only associate the term abomination with the Incredible Hulk's arch-nemesis. So really, almost anything can be denounced by the bible for political purposes. Now, as a human being, my knee jerk reaction to the fact that the bible indicates we should execute homosexuals isn't whether or not we should follow the word of god here but instead, whether or not we should consider some elements of the bible not only obsolete but offensive to the peace of humanity, so take that for what it is. I really appreciated the film's interviews with bible scholars who do find massive value in the book everyday but do not agree with the ideas this film attacks regarding homosexuality. For the Bible Tells Me So does not fiercely attack religion per se, and for that it gains even more credibility in my eyes. Instead, the movie pushes an agenda of its own and asks that Christianity actually accept homosexuality by demonstrating the few denominations that already have, among other points. At least that is kind of what I got out of it. It is a fascinating topic and it turns out to be a really fascinating perspective, but overall, the way the bible is politicized is unfair to both homosexuals and to many Christians.

There are some really powerful stories about real people here and I think that is why I found this film so compelling. I don't like to let my opinion slip out too often, especially when we are just talking about a movie here, but I am absolutely convinced that homosexuality is not a choice. Let's assume that's true for a minute and consider the suicide rate of homosexuals. I'm convinced something is wrong here and films like this might help us work toward understanding each other more. It is not a flawless message but For the Bible Tells Me So does have some hugely important things to say.

For the Bible Tells Us So
This is an wonderful movie that addresses the Biblical perspective concerning homosexuality. Meet parents from a variety of faiths and their struggle with children who are gay. A must see for anyone who is questioning the scriptures response.

Depending on one's perspective...
This video makes some very valid and important points which need to be understood, if they can get into the heads of the fundamentalists. My problem is that the audience it seems to be targeting is more the gay person who is struggling to reconcile his faith to his sexuality, and less for the Christian parent or pastor who needs to understand that struggle. I tried to visualize the content as though I were a fundamentalist homophobic, and from that perspective, the video fails miserably. There are scenes which would antagonize and further alienate Christians who might be watching it.

And it starts with that classic pie-in-the-face scene of Anita Bryant. Farbeit from me to align myself with Anita Bryant, but I felt more sympathy for her than I did with the pie thrower, especially as she started to cry while she was praying. And portraying prominent Christian evangelists in an unsophisticated light, and showing gay demonstrations in almost a circus sideshow atmosphere, and gay men kissing at their wedding -- these things won't win any votes either. Those are the very things that the fundamentalists find disgusting, and they won't be able to get past that to the important parts of the message. I just don't think that kind of presentation is going to help, and it would probably make things worse.

Although the movie gave me some good arguing points to remember, and there are some very heartwarming moments as parents share themselves with the audience, there is no way I could show it to our pastor or other already-antagonistic fundamentalists and expect understanding and acceptance. Hell, it makes even me want to reject homosexuality!

When someone makes a video in which the conflict between one's faith and one's sexuality is presented in a respectful manner toward all parties involved -- one that avoids ridiculing or antagonizing its very audience -- then maybe there will be progress in acceptance in the churches. But I don't see that happening with this film.

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